All-optical object identification and threedimensional reconstruction based on optical computing metasurface

Object identification and three-dimensional reconstruction techniques are always attractive research interests in machine vision,virtual reality,augmented reality,and biomedical engineering.Optical computing metasurface,as a two-dimensional artificial design component,has displayed the supernormal character of controlling phase,amplitude,polarization,and frequency distributions of the light beam,capable of performing mathematical operations on the input light field.Here,we propose and demonstrate an all-optical object identification technique based on optical computing metasurface,and apply it to 3D reconstruction.Unlike traditional mechanisms,this scheme reduces memory consumption in the processing of the contour surface extraction.The identification and reconstruction of experimental results from high-contrast and low-contrast objects agree well with the real objects.The exploration of the all-optical object identification and 3D reconstruction techniques provides potential applications of high efficiencies,low consumption,and compact systems.

Nonlinear,tunable,and active optical metasurface with liquid film

Optical metamaterials and metasurfaces,which emerged in the course of the last few decades,have revolutionized our understanding of light and light–matter interaction.While solid materials are naturally employed as key building elements for construction of optical metamaterials mainly due to their structural stability,practically no attention was given to study of liquid-made optical two-dimensional(2-D)metasurfaces and the underlying interaction regimes between surface optical modes and liquids.We theoretically demonstrate that surface plasmon polaritons and slab waveguide modes that propagate within a thin liquid dielectric film trigger optical self-induced interaction facilitated by surface tension effects,which leads to the formation of 2-D optical liquid-made lattices/metasurfaces with tunable symmetry and can be leveraged for tuning of lasing modes.Furthermore,we show that the symmetry breaking of the 2-D optical liquid lattice leads to phase transition and tuning of its topological properties,which allows the formation,destruction,and movement of Dirac-points in the k-space.Our results indicate that optical liquid lattices support extremely low lasing threshold relative to solid dielectric films and have the potential to serve as configurable analogous computation platform.

Metasurface-enabled augmented reality display: a review

Augmented reality(AR)display,which superimposes virtual images on ambient scene,can visually blend the physical world and the digital world and thus opens a new vista for human–machine interaction.AR display is considered as one of the next-generation display technologies and has been drawing huge attention from both academia and industry.Current AR display systems operate based on a combination of various refractive,reflective,and diffractive optical elements,such as lenses,prisms,mirrors,and gratings.Constrained by the underlying physical mechanisms,these conventional elements only provide limited light-field modulation capability and suffer from issues such as bulky volume and considerable dispersion,resulting in large size,severe chromatic aberration,and narrow field of view of the composed AR display system.Recent years have witnessed the emerging of a new type of optical elements—metasurfaces,which are planar arrays of subwavelength electromagnetic structures that feature an ultracompact footprint and flexible light-field modulation capability,and are widely believed to be an enabling tool for overcoming the limitations faced by current AR displays.Here,we aim to provide a comprehensive review on the recent development of metasurface-enabled AR display technology.We first familiarize readers with the fundamentals of AR display,covering its basic working principle,existing conventional-optics-based solutions,as well as the associated pros and cons.We then introduce the concept of optical metasurfaces,emphasizing typical operating mechanisms,and representative phase modulation methods.We elaborate on three kinds of metasurface devices,namely,metalenses,metacouplers,and metaholograms,which have empowered different forms of AR displays.Their physical principles,device designs,and the performance improvement of the associated AR displays are explained in details.In the end,we discuss the existing challenges of metasurface optics for AR display applications and provide our perspective on future research endeavors.

Multifunctional metasurface:from extraordinary optical transmission to extraordinary optical diffraction in a single structure

We show that a metasurface composed of a subwavelength metallic slit array embedded in an asymmetric dielectric environment can exhibit either extraordinary optical transmission(EOT) or extraordinary optical diffraction(EOD). The cascaded refractive indices of the dielectrics can leverage multiple decaying passages into variant subsections with different diffraction order combinations according to the diffraction order chart in the k-vector space, providing a flexible mean to tailor resonance decaying pathways of the metallic slit cavity mode by changing the wavevector of the incident light. As a result, either the zeroth transmission or-1 st reflection efficiencies can be enhanced to near unity by the excitation of the localized slit cavity mode, leading to either EOT or EOD in a single structure, depending on the illumination angle. Based on this appealing feature, a multifunctional metasurface that can switch its functionality between transmission filter, mirror, and off-axis lens is demonstrated. Our findings provide a convenient way to construct multifunctional miniaturized optical components on a single planar device.

Tunable narrowband antireflection optical filter with a metasurface

A narrowband tunable antireflection optical filter is proposed and numerically studied. The structure is a metasurface based on plasmonic nanoparticles on an electro-optic film in a three-layer configuration of metaldielectric-metal(MDM) in the visible near-infrared range. By tuning the voltage and thus tuning the refractive index of the dielectric Li Nb O_3, one can shift the wavelength of minimum reflection as desired. The parameters of gold nanoparticles and other elements used for the filter design and refractive index of the dielectric are obtained by the finite-element method(FEM). An analytical theory is presented to explain the FEM simulation results, and they agree well with each other. It is found that the frequency of the plasmonic resonance wave on the metasurface should be equal to that of the Fabry–Perot resonator formed by the MDM to have a good filtering property. Theoretical spectra obtained by FEM simulation show that the structure has extensive potential for the design of tunable narrow-band filters for modulators, displayers, and color extraction for imaging.